


one who creates

by kinpika



Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Archer is a University drop kick (but not really), F/M, Hakuno is the super genki high school student (but not really), Pretty sure they can't be doing this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 06:05:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1458682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinpika/pseuds/kinpika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Archer's ready to finish his last year. The old man's breathing down his neck while his mum is happy for him to stay as long as he wants (which roughly translates to: forever). But of course he practically invokes a lifetimes worth of bad karma on the first day back. And trips and falls over some poor high school student who's looking for her brother. And then she kind of blackmails him into helping her find said brother and how did he get dragged into this he's about to graduate. </p><p>A study in the life of one Archer Emiya, a guy who wishes for simpler things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	one who creates

**Author's Note:**

> so i somehow got kind of gifted some archer fanart which i had to respond to then i remembered a post and well here we go. been a while let's do this.

There’s an urban legend about Fuyuki University that if you walk over the school insignia emblazoned on the ground just beyond the gates, you’ll have to do another four years of study - unless you touch the hand of the founder’s statue on the other side of campus in less than a minute.

Those who survived the run make a habit of huddling around the gates and watching the poor soul who steps over it drop every part of their dignity and sprint. More often than not, those in their last year of study place a bet on who’ll be the one to step over it a day before graduation. An age old practice, one Archer was acutely aware of. Hell, he'd even put money on a few of his seniors once or twice even though his luck with that sort of thing was generally awful. But

He didn’t even hear his bag hit the floor as he ran. Wasting exactly three seconds in dodging a poor first year who had seen him coming and tried to get his attention, Archer wished for nothing more than to just keel over and die at that immediate moment. Adamantly, Archer started praying for some higher power to just strike him down because there was absolutely nothing worse than tripping and falling mere _centimetres_ to that statue and landing with some kind of funky scent up his nose. If he looked up, that damn founder’s finger was pointing down at him like it was laughing. It probably was. That was some weird expression on it’s face - he’d heard the founder was a nutcase.

Archer didn’t care how bad it looked that he stretched before letting his arm drop.  “This sucks,” he mumbled. That’s it. He was done for. Now he had to explain to the old man that hey good news, I’m gonna be stuck in this city for another few years. Just like you wanted. He could almost imagine the impending conversation.

“Um … sir?”

That weird smell came with an equally weird voice and Archer diverted his attention from the statue of all things bad in the universe to the weirdly bright eyes. Vaguely, he remembered his bag was still sitting at the university gate (with my phone, he nearly groaned, Irisviel's going to kill me), and he had an assignment due in less than three hours that he hadn’t even considered starting. But that all melted away, when he watched the lips move, forming words, and his brain struggled to catch up and pull itself out of the emotional blackhole he'd dug himself in to.

“Are you even listening to me?!” Archer had to note that it wasn’t one of those high pitched voices the girls in his Psych III class used whenever talking to this poor kid in the front row. There was still an annoying lilt to it but, he could appreciate it. More if there was less of it.

Setting his mouth in a hard line, Archer finally decided to respond. “No.”

The immediate reaction was very expected, not that Archer minded in the least. He could breathe now with that weight off his chest. Except for that slap, which was completely and totally uncalled for in his opinion.

“First of all -”

“Can you get off?”

A small crowd had started to form around them. Archer was willing to put money on some of them being fellow students having a good laugh at Emiya Archer, stuck at the damn university for another four years. But, he caught whispers, saw the hands, and followed the fingers to where they ended up, on the girl he had bowled over. " _Shit_."

To be honest he didn’t even notice the uniform until she had managed to crawl off him, stand and brush herself off. Even after he’d half-heartedly smacked the founder’s hand before turning back, Archer just hadn't entirely noticed. He didn’t recognise the school in the slightest and just passed it off as one of those private places further out of the city, anyway. It didn't matter to him whether or not she had a brown uniform or a black one.

Archer was a little more concerned with why a high school student was hanging around the university grounds, and sufficiently ruining any graduation plans he had, anyway. But, her hands slid onto her hips, a stance so familiar to him Archer had to suspect in another life it actually killed him, and he braced himself for an inevitable onslaught. If experience said anything, anything remotely female he came into contact with had a big mouth on them and just loved to yell at him with it.

She didn't. Sure, squinted and sized him up, but she didn't yell. Archer didn't quite relax, however. There was something oddly terrifying in the way she remained very quiet, not so calculating but just  _absorbed_. He had never figured he was the most interesting guy on the planet, but the way she was staring was something else. Archer found it oddly unsettling, and focused on staring towards the gates, hoping that the entirety of his education was still sitting there.

Eventually, she relaxed enough to cross her hands over her chest and give him that weird look-down gaze he was so familiar with. One of Shirou’s friends loved to just do that every time he walked into the room. “You’re really damn tall, you know that?”

All Archer could do was laugh. He didn’t even know why he was but he did and fuck this was the single worst day in history, probably. Now a high school student was giving him attitude. Great. Icing on the cake of his life. Okay, he was being a little melodramatic but that just summed up his awful morning.

“I suppose,” he said, when he’d managed to form a two-word sentence of some intelligence. His degree did not teach him how to respond to that sort of thing, not his fault.

The girl’s lips kind of twisted up in a way like she had something else to say but decided against it. Maybe she was intimidated. Archer amused that thought well.

“I’m Kishinami. Kishinami Hakuno.” The way her shoulders pulled back and her back straightened as she said it had Archer think that maybe he should know the name? Like he was going to remember one name out of thousands at this university.

“You’re a brat.”

“And you’re going to help me find my brother. Unless you want to explain why a poor, innocent high school girl ended up with bleeding palms and runs up her stockings?”

Oh, that was kind of attractive. At least she knew what she wanted.

“Unfortunately, I have better things to do than escort small children around so if you’ll excuse me …”

So, Archer left. Kind of dodged the sudden distraught look on her face because, alright, _maybe_ she was lost but he had better things to do, right? Yeah. Like see if his bag was still sitting there. And his phone. Archer prayed that someone at least left his brick of a phone because the textbooks were worth far more.

It was the pattering of feet as he cut through one of the empty classrooms that caught him off guard and he swivelled around instantly. And stumbled back a few steps, grunting as something caught him in the chest _again_ \- at least I didn’t fall ass first, he mused. That same weird scent hit him and Archer considered suggesting a shower for the girl because it was really strong when it was right below his nose.

“Did we not just say goodbye or …?”

Hakuno looked up at him tearfully and he wasn’t entirely heartless. Sighing deeply enough that he could hear Cú calling him an old man, he pushed back Hakuno’s shoulders, maybe sort of noting how thin they were, and knew he was going to regret asking.

“What?”

“You left me in that courtyard and I don’t know where my brother is and my friend is gone too and mmfgh-”

Archer covered her mouth with his hand and struggled to keep a straight face. This was too much. It’s not even the afternoon and he just wants to go home, curl up in his room, and become a NEET like that guy a year below him apparently did.

“Please, spare me the sob story.” Was the resignation in his voice clear enough?

Her fingers were really slender and she tried really hard to pry his hand off her face. It was weirdly adorable and Archer would kick himself later for thinking a high schooler was cute. That was weird and he left those fantasies to the history teacher who called himself a descendant of Vlad the something-something.

“Cnf yeeww helph me?”

A smirk stretched across Archer’s face and he turned his ear that little closer, “sorry, didn’t quite catch that.”

That narrowing of her eyes told him that he definitely got her, but he released his hold just as hot breath warmed his hand.

“Help me, dammit.”

Was that exasperation in her voice? “Why me?”

“Because _you_ ran into me first.”

“I’m going to have to do another four years of study thanks to _you_ being in the way.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as the superstitious type.”

“It’s just a precaution.”

Glaring at her with intensity of practicing on Rin Tohsaka for years, Archer noticed just how close they were. And how if a fellow student happened to pass by right now, he’d probably get locked up for assaulting an underage girl (not that he did, but the likelihood that someone listening to him was really low).

Standing up, Archer merely shook his head and turned again, ready to leave. He didn’t have time to play games when his future was getting off into the sunset by now. The old man definitely wouldn’t stand for it if he blamed a high school kid for his failure.

Taking exactly one and a half steps, Archer felt the tug on his jacket and just wanted to rip the thing off. This girl was being so _clingy_ it was seriously starting to piss him off. Looking over his shoulder, whatever tears she had ready disappeared, and a hard set to her face now sat. He had to admire her stubbornness at the very least but he was very sure his bag was long gone now.

“Please. Just, help me this once and I’ll pay you back I swear!”

Archer really wanted to say no. He really wanted to walk back out of the campus grounds and go home. What he did instead was say: “fine.”

Hakuno’s face lit up in an instant and Archer deeply regretted his decision. Her thanks came at a speed he was only able to catch a third of but he just started walking. The gate was so close and Archer used the most unreasonable way to get there, wishing that Hakuno would get lost in everything and leave him alone. She didn’t, unfortunately for him, keeping one step ahead almost, a determined look on her face.

When they - finally - reached the gate, Archer was quite unsurprised that his bag was missing. Kissing the rest of his life goodbye, he finally turned to Hakuno. She seemed to shrink behind him as more and more students flooded in for classes just before noon, fidgeting with her skirt. Which reminded Archer;

“Don’t you have school today?”

Hakuno peered up at him with those big brown eyes and said ever so softly, “stop avoiding your job.”

Clicking his tongue, Archer walked on. “What course is he doing?”

“Brain stuff. Never bothered to ask.” He could almost _hear_ the shrug in her voice without having to see it.

“How helpful.”

“I do try.”

Thankfully, Hakuno didn’t like to prattle. If anything, she kept a respectable distance from him and maintained a light silence, apart from the odd ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ when passing by things on the campus he’d seen only a hundred times before. “You don’t get out much, do you?” he’d meant to dig when she’d stopped in front of a path leading to a small chapel tucked away between the old and new labs.

There had been a painful smile on her face at that and Archer had enough decency in him to regret that little comment immensely. They managed to reach the place he assumed her brother would be at. Even though it was only a year old, a smell reminding him of the old labs had already crept in, and Archer turned his nose up at that.

“From here go to the desk over there and ask if your brother is in a session.” He waved in the general direction of a student helpdesk just at the end of the hall.

Hakuno looked back and forth twice before nodding. Setting off, she skidded to a stop before hurrying back to stand in front. Archer frowned, not quite sure what was going on. Well, he hadn’t had any idea what was going on since late last night but that was beside the point.

“What’s your name?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he peered down at her. She really was small, actually. “Does it matter?”

Mimicking him, she frowned back up. “Did your mother hug you enough as a child?”

Archer felt his face twitch before sighing for the umpteenth time that day. “Emiya Archer.”

Hakuno’s face lit up in a way that made him think to himself: _oh no,_ that’s not fair. And he was stuck to that thought as she skipped off again, not turning back until the woman behind the desk pointed her in the right direction. Archer half-heartedly waved back to Hakuno’s furious goodbyes, before crouching down, covering his hands with his face. This was a terrible day.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if people would like small notes to show references to things??? I'll do it for this chapter anyway so:
> 
> 1\. I can't remember the college specifically but I read a post on tumblr about a myth about OP's college and some senior had to sprint across campus (aka the inspiration for that)  
> 2\. Archer's the eldest. illya is the middle child and shirou's the youngest. Kiritsugu and Iri are still alive. Everyone's alive?? Happy times, right?  
> 3\. I don't actually have anyone in mind for the founder. Think of the weirdest, creepiest character in the f/sn universe.  
> 4\. Uniform is Tsukumihara Academy from F/E  
> 5\. Cú is Lancer. Obviously. Everyone's going to make an appearance at some point is2g  
> 6\. Gilgamesh is the NEET. Because he is the King of NEETs.
> 
> That's all I can think of.


End file.
